Value proposition of our solution

SeneMarket provides a secure, intelligent, and student-focused marketplace designed to facilitate the exchange of academic materials and student-sold products within the university community. By leveraging context-aware smart features, the platform adapts to the academic calendar, prioritizing essential materials during exam periods while also optimizing product visibility based on daily campus routines. This ensures that students can quickly and affordably access what they need, whether it’s textbooks, lab supplies, or snacks between classes.

Smart Features & Their Value Contribution

• AI-Powered Product Recommendations: By analyzing user preferences, browsing history, and past purchases, SeneMarket suggests relevant items, reducing search time and increasing transaction likelihood.

• Secure University-Only Access: Ensures trust and exclusivity by requiring a verified Uniandes email for registration, keeping transactions within the student community.

• Comprehensive Product Listings: Displays detailed product names, descriptions, images, and seller contact details, making it easier for buyers to evaluate their options.

• Efficient Search & Smart Filtering: Allows users to filter materials by course, category, or program, with AI-driven recommendations helping them discover relevant listings effortlessly.

• Transaction Confirmation & Inventory Management: Automatically removes sold items from listings to ensure accurate availability, reducing frustration from outdated offers.

• Smart In-App Ads: Combine both organic search results and sponsored products to define the final order of listed products, while the ads are prioritized differently for each user based on their behavior history, ensuring a personalized experience while optimizing visibility for entrepreneurs.

CAS (Context-Aware System) Features & Their Value Contribution

• Academic Calendar Awareness: The platform adjusts visibility for certain products based on exam schedules, semester changes, and registration periods. For example, textbooks and calculators get more exposure before midterms.

• Real-Time Demand Awareness: The app adjusts recommendations and promotions based on live trends within the university, such as increased demand for specific books before an exam or second-hand furniture during move-in periods or lunch time hours.

• Personalized Notifications: Users receive smart reminders when a searched item becomes available, when prices drop, or when their listings match a high-demand category.

The app enhances user trust and convenience by requiring a verified university email for registration, offering AI-driven recommendations, and automatically updating product availability. By promoting a circular economy, SeneMarket reduces waste and supports student entrepreneurs, allowing them to gain visibility and grow their businesses within a structured, university-exclusive platform. Additionally, its flexible revenue model, which includes premium listing options, in-app ads, and voluntary donations, ensures financial sustainability while keeping the marketplace accessible to all. SeneMarket is not just a marketplace; it’s a smart, sustainable, and cost-effective solution tailored to the real-time needs of the university community.

Important aspects of UI/UX

Colour palette and its rationale

We chose this color palette to create a cohesive and dynamic look that resonates with both the university’s identity and the marketplace functionality. The bold yellows reference Uniandes’ iconic color, making the app instantly recognizable and aligned with the institution’s brand. Meanwhile, the darker tones (black, brown, and grays) provide a strong neutral foundation that highlights the brighter accents, ensuring important elements like product listings and calls to action stand out. This balance of vibrant and neutral shades not only reinforces brand consistency but also delivers clarity, readability, and visual hierarchy, which are crucial for an engaging user experience in a student-focused marketplace.

Fonts

Cabin

We chose the Cabin typeface for its modern yet approachable design, which aligns well with our student-centered marketplace. Its clean, balanced letterforms ensure clear readability on mobile interfaces, supporting a seamless user experience. Moreover, Cabin’s friendly aesthetic complements our brand’s vibrant color palette and reinforces a sense of openness and reliability. As an open-source font, Cabin is also cost-effective and easy to implement, ensuring consistent typography across different platforms.

Icons

We use icons from the Material 3 Symbols library. These icons are simple and clear. They show things like "Home", "Chats", "Sell", "Favorites", and "Profile". Each icon helps the user understand what each button does.

Our icons are easy to see and understand. They have a clean look that fits well with our app’s color scheme. The icons help make our app friendly and simple to use for university students. With these icons, students can quickly find what they need.

We chose these icons because they are part of a trusted design system. Many other apps use Material 3 Symbols because they work well on different screens. This means that our app looks good on phones, tablets, and computers.

Using these icons also saves time. They are ready-made and do not need extra design work. This lets us focus on other parts of our app. In the end, our icons make the app easy to use, attractive, and modern. Which is SeneMarket.

Images and illustrations

Logo

The SeneMarket logo merges the essence of the marketplace concept with the identity of the university. The design features:

1. Purse Icon (Marketplace Symbol) The purse represents the core functionality of SeneMarket a platform for buying and selling products within the university community. Its yellow color aligns with the university’s official palette, reinforcing a strong visual connection to the institution and evoking warmth, optimism, and economic activity.

2. Goat Horns (University Symbol) The horns are a nod to the university's mascot, symbolizing the community and belongingness among students. This subtle but powerful element ties the app directly to the university’s identity, making the platform feel familiar and exclusive to its users.

3. Modern, Minimalist Style The combination of the two elements in a simple and clean design enhances recognition and adaptability across different platforms, whether in-app icons, promotional materials, or digital communications.

The logo reflects SeneMarket’s commitment to creating a user-centric platform that empowers students to engage in a secure, sustainable, and community-driven marketplace.

UI prototype

Test

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/dd1b887c-2b56-4529-8aed-1ed27ac4563e

The video quality isn’t the best due to GitHub restrictions, but its main purpose is to showcase SeneMarket's navigation.

Figma

https://www.figma.com/proto/6U9A8tzMQG7j9ntibaD9Ky/SeneMarket?node-id=62238-3366&p=f&t=ggBFBxxti96Pu4j7-1&scaling=min-zoom&content-scaling=fixed&page-id=62238%3A3099&starting-point-node-id=62238%3A3366

Navigational patterns

The navegation for SeneMarket uses a flat design as main pattern, however, sub patterns can be identificated like Hierarchical for profile settings and content-driven for favorites section.

The navigation is designed with simplicity and user experience in mind. By placing key actions at the bottom of the app screen, the navegation remains easily accessible, specially for one-handed use, which is critical for mobile users.

1. Home Button

The home button takes users to the main dashboard, where they can quickly view available item offers and some ads. Having the home button consistently available ensures users can easily return to the central hub, reinforcing a sense of control and ease. This button is placed on the left side, following natural reading patterns and prioritizing the most frequent user action: browsing products.

2. Chats Button

The chats button provides users with direct access to conversations between buyers and sellers. Since communication is a core part of the marketplace experience, having this button readily accessible ensures that users can quickly respond to messages, negotiate prices, and finalize transactions. The second position on the navigation bar highlights its importance without overshadowing the primary action of browsing and selling.

3. Sell Button

The sell button is strategically placed at the center of the navigation bar to emphasize the app's main functionality allowing users to list items for sale. This central position draws attention and encourages user engagement. The button feature a distinct design (such as a larger size and different color) to further highlight its significance and promote quick access to the selling flow.

4. Favorites Button

The favorites button allows users to access a personalized list of products they have marked as interesting. This feature supports decision making by enabling users to compare products and return to items they are considering. Placing this button in the fourth position aligns with its role as a secondary action, providing quick access without cluttering the primary navigation flow.

5. Profile Button

The profile button allows users to manage their personal information, preferences, notifications, and payment methods. Placing this in the bottom navigation provides consistent access to personalized features without adding unnecessary complexity to the interface. By making the profile easily accessible, the app supports customization and user-centric experiences, encouraging long-term engagement by allowing users to modify settings to better suit their needs.

This bottom navigation pattern ensures a logical, streamlined flow through the app. It balances accessibility, familiarity, and efficiency, enhancing the overall usability and engagement of the app. The combination of clear visual hierarchy, ergonomic placement, and consistent access to key features contributes to an intuitive and satisfying user experience.